> I've been haunted the last few days by the thought of the asylum
> seekers who have sewn their lips together to protest against how long
> their applications are taking to process. Such a brutal refusal of
> all the nourishment that mouths mean - no food, no speech, no kisses.
> The thought of the pain of it makes me flinch, all the nerves of the
> lips pierced by needles, drawing the thread through. It's keeping me
> awake at night.
I'm glad you raised that, Alison, he said, bowing low with affected
courtesy. I can think of no more poignant a protest and refusal. The silence
they have made tactile on their bodies is the most eloquent speech and
disruption of stereotypes I have heard in a long time.
Excuse me, there's a puddle ahead, allow me to spread my cloak.
Best
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Leicester, England
Home Page
A Chide's Alphabet
Painting Without Numbers
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alison Croggon" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 8:33 PM
Subject: Silence
> I've been haunted the last few days by the thought of the asylum
> seekers who have sewn their lips together to protest against how long
> their applications are taking to process. Such a brutal refusal of
> all the nourishment that mouths mean - no food, no speech, no kisses.
> The thought of the pain of it makes me flinch, all the nerves of the
> lips pierced by needles, drawing the thread through. It's keeping me
> awake at night.
>
> Not the government it seems. The ironies of the term "Pacific
> solution" (to pacify these people) keep multiplying...
>
> Best
>
> Alison
>
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